The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Traditionally, automotive vehicles include multiple systems that regulate overall operation of the vehicle. For example, the vehicle includes a powerplant (e.g., an internal combustion engine) that generates drive torque, an energy storage device (e.g., battery pack) that provides electrical energy, a transmission that distributes the drive torque to drive wheels and various other systemsEach of these systems requires an associated control module or modules to achieve coordinated control and operation of the vehicle. These modules communicate with one another to regulate operation of the vehicle. Intra-processor communications utilize interfaces such as an Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) or the universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART), while inter-processor communications utilize a Controller Area Network (CAN) and/or Class2 Network.
Electronic throttle control (ETC) systems replace the mechanical accelerator pedal assemblies also used in vehiclesETC sensors take input from the driver and send it to an engine control system in real time. The engine control system modulates the air/fuel flow to the engineDirect control of the engine is shifted from the driver to the engine control system to improve efficiency. Under certain failure mode conditions, the ETC system will operate under an acceleration governing function. This limited-power mode will prevent damage to the engine. Once a vehicle has entered limited-power mode it needs to remain there until the fault has been determined and remedied.
Due to the increasing complexity of automotive systems and the need for subsystems such as ETC, there exists a large number of diagnostics that are required to detect failures in a very short time (<200 ms) between processors. However, a number of inter and intra-processor diagnostic fault codes may be falsely set when the voltage drops in the vehicle due to the interaction between various vehicle components operating at or beyond their specified voltage rangesLow voltage conditions may result in faults that could potentially indicate a need for costly repairs. For example, the low voltage induced faults may lead to the unnecessary replacement of components when the charging system fails and/or the vehicle battery is drained, thus causing higher warranty costs and customer dissatisfaction.